Cardinals make interesting Kyler Murray decision

Quarterback Kyler Murray will miss at least the first four games of the 2023 season for the Arizona Cardinals after being placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list and may have taken his last snap with the franchise already.

That didn’t prevent Murray from being named one of the Cardinals’ six captains ahead of the Week 1 matchup at the Washington Commanders. 

“He’s our franchise quarterback,” Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said about Murray on Monday, as shared by Darren Urban of the club’s website. “And everything that I want our captains to be, he demonstrates it.”

Gannon accepted the job this past February and has routinely praised Murray as questions about the 26-year-old’s future continue to hover over his status. Murray tore his ACL on Dec. 12, and it’s unknown when or even if he’ll be cleared to play this season.

Murray said in July he wanted “to be back by Week 1,” but there’s no indication he was ever close to reaching that unrealistic goal. The first pick of the 2019 NFL Draft offered those comments before individuals such as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk began accusing the Cardinals of tanking so they can ultimately draft signal-caller Caleb Williams of the USC Trojans. 

Per Miles Schachner of the New York Post, former NFL general manager and current analyst Michael Lombardi said during a recent appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he believes the Cardinals will keep Murray on the bench throughout the campaign for reasons related to the five-year extension reportedly worth $230.5M with $160M guaranteed the two sides agreed upon in July 2022. 

“My sense of it is, he will not play for the rest of the year because they can’t risk putting him back on the field and having him get injured, and now they’re on the hook for $56M, and they’re on the hook for $92M guaranteed,” Lombardi explained about the situation. “If I were [general manager] Monti Ossenfort and I were Jonathan Gannon, there’s no chance I’m putting Murray on the field this year and risking that I’m going to fully guarantee a contract that I’m not sure I want to fully guarantee.”

As noted by Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons, Arizona will start either journeyman Joshua Dobbs or unproven fifth-round draft pick Clayton Tune at quarterback against Washington. If either loses as much as most expect, the Cardinals playing Murray at any point this season may make little sense even if they plan on keeping him.